Flights of Fantasy discussion

So, I just read that a new VAT is being instituted in the EU this year and it requires everyone to charge the VAT for each specific member country.

As a former online retailer, I have a small idea of the headache this causes.

But I'm not really understanding what this means to the future of book pricing. If anyone is familiar, can you explain?

The only thing I'm understanding now is that prices are going to go up in the EU and that those higher prices MAY filter across the globe due to the complexity of figuring out profits, etc.

Have you a link to the new VAT that is being introduced? First i've heard. My understanding previously was that hard copies of books were exempt from VAT but ebooks were not. I could be wrong though.

Thanks

I don't remember if Amazon grumbled about possibly raising prices when they had to start charging taxes here in the US, but I can tell you that they have not. Their prices are still the same now, at least for print and electronic books, as they were before.
I have noticed that brand new books are starting out at a higher price (averaging about $11.99 or $12.99) but they do eventually fall back into normal ranges within a few months. I've also noticed some books lowering in price - once $8.99 or $9.99 now $6.99 or $5.95.

Gerard wrote: "Have you a link to the new VAT that is being introduced? First i've heard. My understanding previously was that hard copies of books were exempt from VAT but ebooks were not. I could be wrong though."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/bu...

Nicki wrote: "That's good to know! It really wouldn't surprise me if they're full of hot air. They're still going to have a vested interest in using the Kindle store to undercut the brick and mortar retailers' p..."

The funny thing is that - from what I've heard so far - this is going to make Amazon bigger so they aren't complaining.

It's a major pain in the ass to install and maintain tax databases. It becomes a bigger PIA when you have to get money across state lines to pay those taxes. This is the reason why the US doesn't require taxes in the states where the business doesn't have a physical presence.

I can only imagine the headache international tax databases must be. So I've heard that a lot of selling between small businesses and international customers in the EU will be severely curtailed. And that others are just going to use Amazon as a third party since they are already set up to do the taxes with no problems.

lol

But what are the boxes?

lol